Peggy's Chair, Béal Bán Beach | A Mystery on the Dingle Peninsula

For four years a mysterious chair has survived the storms, tides and changing seasons on Béal Bán Beach on the Dingle Peninsula, in the South West of Ireland. It has weathered Atlantic winter storms and summer sunshine, rain and salt spray, high tides and fierce winds. It has watched the beach change with the seasons and the light change from dawn to dusk. Nobody I know seems to know how it came to be there – or who is Peggy. It first appeared four years ago with a card or paper label carrying the name ‘Suíochán Pheigí’ – which translates to Peggy’s Chair. Was it placed here as a memorial? A gesture? A joke? An artwork? Or simply an eccentric offering to the sea? Perhaps it’s a reference to the Blasket Island storyteller Peig Sayers? After some time, the chair disappeared. Perhaps the Atlantic finally claimed it. But then, unexpectedly, it returned. This time it had been tied securely to a fence post, as though someone wanted to make sure that this chair wasn't going anywhere. And then - another layer of mystery was added. A ceramic artist made a little nameplate for the chair. Peggy's Chair. So now it has a name in something more permanent than a piece of card. And still nobody seems to know the whole story. If only the seagulls could tell. But Béal Bán has its way of telling stories. The Atlantic tells them in storms and tides. The sand tells them in footprints that appear and disappear. The light tells them in a thousand different colours. Béal Bán is probably the most beautiful beach on the Dingle Peninsula – but I may be a little biased. Over the past years I have photographed this beach in sunshine, rain, wind, changing light and tides. As I passed the chair, I would just take a shot or two, not really knowing why. And there it remains, waiting, watching, weathering, for four years and still surviving. Perhaps someone knows who Peggy is. Perhaps one day we will find out. But for now, there is just the chair, the beach, the Atlantic... and a little mystery waiting…. Perhaps someone knows the answer, but perhaps the mystery is part of the charm. Thank you for viewing. Please check out my Dingle Peninsula photos on my website: https://www.helene-brennan.com/c25-ph... All photographs and slideshow by Helene Brennan #PeggysChair #BéalBán #KerryIreland #DinglePeninsula #Ireland